Relationships before volume

It is people who have created Nuni.

When we started Nuni, our first purchase was around one tonne of shea butter. Today, we work with more than 20 tonnes of shea butter and black soap each year, and over time we have built long-term partnerships with women’s cooperatives in Ghana and Morocco.

But for us, growth has never been about tonnes and containers. It has been about relationships. That is what created Nuni.

A woman’s gold
Shea butter creates opportunities for economic independence.

For many years, we have worked closely with the women behind our ingredients. Women like Nafiza, Mukarima and Hafsa, who have shared stories of their families, dreams, community and work. Beneath the shea trees, work is mixed with conversation, laughter, friendship and everyday life.

In the past, they were often forced to sell their shea butter at the market, which took a great deal of time and brought considerably lower margins. Today they stand in a stronger position, with better conditions for a more sustainable and independent livelihood.

Ownership stays with the women.

The women run their businesses themselves. They organise their work, set their own prices and make their own decisions.

It has always been important to us that they retain ownership of their craft and businesses. We do not see ourselves as owners or managers of their work, but as a long-term customer and partner.

Recurring purchases make a difference.

What we contribute is recurring, larger purchases. Over the years, these purchases have made it possible for businesses to grow, for more women to become involved in production and for new forms of women-led entrepreneurship to develop around the ingredients.

Today we work not only with the women who produce the shea butter, but also with women who develop the ingredients into their own products and innovations, which we then purchase.

The same philosophy, from Ghana to Morocco.

In the same way, our partnerships in Morocco have grown through relationships. Through repeated visits, conversations and a shared respect for the craft behind the ingredients.

Whether it is shea butter from Ghana or argan oil from Morocco, our philosophy is the same: to honour the people behind the ingredients and let them continue to own their knowledge, businesses and future.

We believe in something else.

In a world where more and more is standardised and mass-produced, we believe in something else. In heritage. In craftsmanship. In self-determination. In long-term relationships. In the belief that the people behind the ingredients are just as important as the ingredients themselves.

These are the relationships we want to make visible. Not only to tell you where the products come from, but to honour the women, knowledge and entrepreneurship behind them.